New train!

We got a new train from our friend Larry. Peter has seen electric trains in a few other places- in Arizona, at Choo-choo bob's, and at grandpa dan's house but having an electric train at our house is a whole new thing! It is a little stressful and both Pete and Emi want to grab at it whenever it is moving, but we all do  have a lot of fun watching it go and we are learning to be careful!

Mountain biking

Pete has gotten better and  better on his little bike- recently we have started to take him up to the trails to go biking while we hike. He needs some help getting up and over the logs, but for the most part he does  a really really great job of going up and over the hills, slowing down on the turns and making it the entire loop!

Emelia has also gotten to the point that she loves to go for hikes. When we take her out of the car and she sees her purple backback in the truck she squeals and jumps up and down.When we do hike, she is all smiles and talks the entire time. She loves her backpack that she can see out of so well Grandma Vivi!!

and she's off!!!

She has been close for a while now, but I think she's ready to go!!

Sewing for Winter

I've started to work on some projects for Emelia for the winter. One is the sweater that she had on in the post where she was splashing in scout's dish. This is another little jumper that I made her out of fleece. I think she might get a few more of these--- they are just too soft and cuddly!! In the works are also a few other sweaters, some knit pants and maybe overalls.

And it begins...

 Peter was obsessed with Scout's water dish and in the first few days that Emelia is really starting to get around the house it appears that she also thinks that splashing in the water dish is hilarious!!

Swingset

Earlier this summer we got a new swingset off of Craigslist- well, not new, but new to us, it needed a lot of wood replaced and to be repainted- Garrick worked really hard on it and here we are now- having lots of fun- this was just about a minute after they put the beam up for the swing!

Elroy Sparta Bike Trail

We took our first trip on the Elroy Sparta Bike Trail this weekend with the kids and my parents met us up there as well for the morning! It was a far cry from earlier in the week when we were all wearing shorts and tanktops- but it was great weather for biking.

We parked close enough to a tunnel that it wouldn't be a super long ride which meant there would be more time for playing in the tunnel and while we were biking. Peter did a great job of walking through the tunnel, making train and owl noises and holding his flashlight.

He and I even found a place in the tunnel to hide and surprise everyone!!

We spent time looking at the BIG doors and the water the runs along side of the trail and even caught a frog in the nets that GrandpaDan brought along.

Here Pete is "Putting it Back." into the water

Emelia also got some playtime with everyone!

(Everything is always so BRIGHT green there!)

Peter even got to ride his own bike for a while on the trail. At the trailhead there was a caboose with area pamphlets/information inside that Petey got to play in for a while... The next day at school his teacher told me that he was super chatty that day and then asked if we had seen his grandparents the day before... I said Yes and then she said... "In a caboose?" I laughed and explained what we had done the day before and that yep, they had in fact been in a caboose. Life doesn't get much better... does it?

Fun with the cousins!

Last week  Garrick's sister Erika was in MN visiting family and we got to visit with them for a few days as well. We did all sorts of fun things- the video from last week was of Peter swimming at Linka's friend's pool- here is a picture of us all swimming- Emelia was sleeping in her carseat and missed out.

We also went to the park a few times, let the big boys ride their bikes together and played with Grandma Linka's new kitchen and the trucks outside!

But I think that the highlight of the day was when Garrick got the big parachute out and we all played in it!

On top of it and

Inside of it!

Nick and Emi played with play food until he took something that she wanted...

This was our best attempt at a group shot that night. Emelia wanted to get to the rocks, nick wouldn't stay still and Ben was being told what to do...

MVI 2155

MVI 2205

The first time I took Pete swimming at the beach this summer he didn't want to go in the water and I was devestated... my kid didn't want to swim? He was scared of the water? He didn't LIKE the water... well, needless to say he warmed up to the idea- and the water probably warmed up too! Emelia also loves to sit and splash in the shallow water or in her float and push her self around! What little fishes I have!